Nevermore
by OccasionallyIWriteStuff
Summary: Ruby and Weiss head into the forest trying to find Blake, who had run off trying to Yang. However, a nevermore interrupts their search and the ensuing battle sets the rest of the day in chaos. Grimmdark AU.


_A/N: In the Grimmdark AU this time guys. Not going to lie, enjoyed writing this. Maybe I just prefer to write darker stuff. Sucks cause my most popular story is wicked fluffy. Check out weissrabbit on tumblr. I'm pretty sure it's her AU but I'm not 100% positive. Don't have a tumblr so can't tell. Also, check out xenon54165 on tumblr. They drew a picture that helped with inspiration. Lastly check out the fic Quoth the Raven by Techno Skittles. Not going to say this is my response to their piece, but this is more of how I would see it. Good read. Worth it. Also check out EvilPalidin's Grimmdark fic Scared. I approve. Enjoy._

* * *

Weiss slashed at the nevermore's talons as it swept low for a pass at her. Myrtenaster bounced harmlessly off of the foot but the nevermore cried out in annoyance that it had missed its prey for the fifth time. Weiss sighed as the Grimm flapped its wings and gained more altitude, quickly exiting Weiss's dust range. Knowing that they had a few minutes before the nevermore would be able to make another pass, Weiss jogged over to Ruby.

"We need to go back." Ruby's eyes were focused on the nevermore in the distance but she quickly looked at her teammate. Weiss was covered in cuts and dirt and the absolute filth of the forest they were in. Her white was closer to black because of all the mud and her hair hadn't fared much better. Sweat was dripping down her teammate's face. Weiss tried again. "Ruby, we have to go back."

Ruby shook her head, but kept her eyes focused on the nevermore. "We can't go back. We have to find Blake, and then we have to find Yang, and then we have to make sure Yang is okay, and then we can go back Weiss." The leader of the broken team RWBY wasn't faring much better than the W was. Her own combat attire was slashed and tattered and she had a cut on her face that was far too deep to be healthy. Sweat was pouring down her face as well, but Ruby made no attempt to wipe the drops away. Instead, she let them slide into the cut on her cheek and remind her of what she was doing out in the woods fighting Grimm for.

Weiss sighed. Of course it couldn't be easy. How could it be? It was Ruby she was dealing with after all. Weiss tried to soften her tone and apply logic to the situation. "If we head back to Beacon and get some reinforcements and get patched up, there'll be a better chance of us finding Blake and Yang." Her tone was harder than she wanted it to be, but softer than its regular jab. Weiss was exhausted and, while she wanted to find Blake and Yang as much as Ruby did, she knew that if they kept the pace they currently had, Ruby and Weiss would be the ones needing the body bags.

Ruby shook her head again, still refusing to break eye contact with the nevermore. "Nope. Can't do that. Blake and Yang might be…" she paused and stumbled over her words a bit before continuing. "Blake and Yang need our help _now._ Not later. Now. It's our responsibility as teammates to find them and get them back to safety." Ruby flashed a determined grimace to Weiss before returning to her previous target.

"Ruby, it won't matter when they need help if we _die _out here." Weiss hissed the words violently. Obviously Ruby wasn't going to listen to logic. Weiss also wasn't in the type of mood for logic. "If we are _dead_ we won't be able to help Blake or Yang. We need medical attention. We need help."

A cry interrupted the conversation and Weiss turned to look at their opponent. It was less than a mile away and closing fast. The girl drew her rapier and prepared for the usual. Dance out of the way of the talons and slash at the foot while Ruby hid. It was their strategy until they could either escape, which would be impossible in the clearing that they had been trapped in, or until Ruby could think up a plan. She had been trying, but that currently wasn't enough. The current nevermore they were fighting was the same size, if not bigger, than the one they had fought at initiation together. Without Blake and Yang or any sort of slingshot mechanism, it was next to impossible to coordinate any kind of strike against the giant bird.

Weiss took stance and waited for the talons to come dragging along the ground at her. She hadn't particularly like the idea of being bait, but Ruby wasn't nearly as good at dodging at the last second as Weiss was. Ruby was more of a, "get out of the way before anything bad happened," dodger. Which wouldn't work because the nevermore would see her move and try to redirect its path and then it would become a game of cat and mouse. No, Weiss had to wait until she was right underneath the nevermore's belly to dodge the claws. It was all very complex and frankly, Weiss wished Blake and Yang were present, if only to take some of the hardships of being bait.

The nevermore swooped low and the talons touched the ground, kicking up dirt violently. Weiss waited. Time seemed to slow down as the talons approached her. She took a deep breath and continued to wait for her opportunity. The cry of the nevermore pierced her eardrums and she felt her entire being vibrate with the intensity of the sound. But she continued to wait. If she was too fast, she risked endangering Ruby, who had used her rosy semblance to hide behind a tree two hundred yards away from Weiss position. If she was too slow, she would most likely be crushed by the nevermore's claws and be killed. If she wasn't killed, she would be paralyzed, and then killed. So she had to be perfect. Combat was an art. Combat took practice. Combat was precise.

When she was no more than a breath away from the talons, Weiss moved. Once of her glyphs appeared at her feet and her imaged shimmered to the left of the talon. As she moved, Weiss used the frictionless surface of the glyph to spin and slash her rapier against her enemy. This time, it didn't bounce off harmlessly. It drew blood. A burst of the sticky red-stuff shot out of the talon and sprayed across Weiss's face and clothes. Unflinching, she continued her motion and brought the rapier through the rest of the talon. A split second before the nevermore flew off again, Weiss took the chance to admire her handiwork. A large gash, several inches deep had appeared on the left talon of the bird because of her. While she knew the job wasn't done yet, Weiss couldn't help but feel a bit of pride.

The nevermore cried in pain and fury and gained altitude again. Another minute or two to try and convince Ruby. Weiss sighed and approached Ruby. "Ruby, listen to me, you aren't thinking clearly. We have to retreat. It's the best decision."

Ruby took her eyes off of the nevermore and stared directly into Weiss's. Clear silver meeting icy blue. "I'm going to find Blake. I'm going to find Yang. I can do it _with _or _without _you Weiss. You choose." Ruby didn't turn back to the nevermore but instead stayed staring at Weiss.

The ice princess was shocked. It wasn't like Ruby to say things like that. She had been going through some tough times lately as leader, but that didn't excuse her behavior. Or maybe it did. She hadn't been able to help when one of her teammates had been jumped by the White Fang. She hadn't been there when her sister had needed her most. She hadn't been able to stop Blake from running after Yang. And now, she wasn't even able to keep a hold on her own partner. Everything was falling apart. And, to Ruby, it must have felt like it was all her fault. It was because of her that Blake almost got killed. Because of her, Yang was now a monstrosity hiding somewhere away from the world. Because of her, Blake had run after Yang, to try and save her. Because of her, Weiss was at her limit but still fighting a nevermore. Weiss bit her lip.

"Of course I'll help you. I'm your teammate. But we have to consider-"

Ruby turned away from Weiss for a second only to cry in fear and slam into the other girl, bringing her to the ground. Apparently, the nevermore had figured out what was happening and had resorted to a different method of attack. It had launched feathers while Ruby and Weiss had been having their staring competition and by the time that Ruby had realized what was happening, it was too late. The feathers were upon them.

Ruby and Weiss huddled into one another while the feathers rained down upon the clearing. While nevermores tended to inaccurate with their feather shots, it didn't hurt to be as small a target as possible. Chance was a cruel mistress after all.

One of the black feathers struck a nearby tree and the wood splintered outwards. Ruby, who had her head covered, didn't notice. But Weiss did. The tree began to tip towards the pair who had huddled on the ground together.

"Ruby!" Weiss bucked her body and pushed with her arms. Somehow, the ice princess managed to flip Ruby over her head. The younger girl landed with a thud on her bottom and looked around confusedly since her hood had covered her eyes. She pulled off the red shroud just in time to see Weiss's leg get crushed before she could crawl out of the way.

Weiss cried out in pain. The trunk of the tree had pinned her left leg and lit it on fire. There was so much pain that Weiss's vision began to blur and she wretched violently. It had been a long time since breakfast that morning at Beacon, but some of it still came up and was deposited onto the ground. Her eyes began to tear as she looked at the trunk. A small pool of blood was quickly escaping from beneath the tree and soaking into the ground. While she didn't want to make the comparison, from what little Weiss could see of her leg, it seemed to resemble that of a pancake.

"Weiss!" Ruby rushed over to her injured comrade. "Ohmygodohmygodohmygod. Alright, we can't panic, we just have to stay calm and figure a way out of this mess." The younger girl started flapping her arms and hands around like a chicken. "Um, we need to um, uh, um. Hmm. Weiss, what do we need to do? Wait, we need to stop the bleeding! But that means we need to get rid of the tree trunk and not to mention… the nevermore!" Ruby pulled out her scythe and extended it fully as the large Grimm landed across the fallen tree trunk from her.

Its red eyes burned with hatred as it stared at the red girl. It screeched a challenge at the girl. Ruby answered by firing at the ground behind her boots and launching at the nevermore.

While she attempted to put up a fight, there was no way that the rookie huntress was going to be able to defeat the elder nevermore. With a flap of its wings it pushed Ruby back and sent her across the clearing and into a tree.

But the nevermore didn't care about Ruby. As much of an annoyance that the younger girl was, it wasn't why the nevermore had landed. The large Grimm picked up the tree trunk with its beak and tossed it aside casually, staring intently at the girl that it had been trapping. _She_ was the one who had made it bleed. _She _was the one who needed pain. _She _was the one the nevermore wanted.

Weiss reached out and tried to drag herself away from the nevermore. Despite the pain, despite the overwhelming pain, she couldn't die. She couldn't leave Ruby alone in the woods to die. She had to move. She had to fight. Weiss Schnee had to do _something_.

But to no avail. After letting its prey crawl a few feet, the bird reached out with a talon and wrapped it around the ice princess. Ruby, coming back from the shock of her impact, saw this and tried to launch herself at the two. Her scythe clicked loudly as the cartridge fell onto the grass. Empty. She had forgotten to reload after their encounter with the ursae.

As quickly as she could, Ruby tried to find another cartridge and reload but it wasn't fast enough. The Grimm spread its wings and started to gain altitude. All Ruby could do was hope as she shouted after Weiss, "It'll be okay! I'll find you and we'll be okay Weiss!"

But Weiss didn't hear that. Instead, all she saw was her team leader standing there as she was carried away.

* * *

Weiss dropped onto the sticks of the nest and rolled several times before coming to a complete stop. Her eyes fluttered open and she started taking short, shallow breaths. She had passed out during the flight up to the nest, due to lack of oxygen and increasing blood loss. It had been a quick flight, given that a long one would have killed Weiss. But now Weiss had to deal with this problem. She had to kill the nevermore, stop bleeding, find a way down from this mountain, and find Ruby again. How inconvenient.

The nevermore shrieked in triumph as it took its perch on the edge of the nest, claws curling over the edge of the sticks it had collected. No, not sticks. _Trees_. It had collected the tallest trees in the forest for its nest. Weiss shuddered at the thought of how old the nevermore must be to have trees this large in the confines of its nest. Ruby and her had been outclassed since the beginning of the fight.

Weiss dug a hand in the pouch at her side. She only had Myrtenaster and one crystal left. She would have to make them count. Weiss rolled so that she was facing the nevermore. She didn't bother to even attempt to stand, that would be a lost cause. Instead, she managed to sit up so that her legs were facing the nevermore first and drew Myrtenaster.

The nevermore cried at the fact that's its prey was _still_ moving. So much effort had been put into this one measly morsel. The nevermore lunged with its beak open and outstretched.

But that was what Weiss had wanted. Drawing on the dredges of her aura, a black glyph appeared in front of Weiss and trapped the beak of the nevermore so that it was mere inches away from Weiss. Pulling the final crystal from her pouch, the ice princess leaned around the glyph and tossed it down the throat of the nevermore. Upon coming in contact with the acids in the Grimm's stomach, the crystal immediately destabilized and the energy exploded outwards.

A twenty foot high spire of ice shot out of Grimm's torso and expanded in every direction, tearing the nevermore to pieces. It hadn't even had time to cry out in pain.

Weiss dropped Myrtenaster and fell onto her back. She was spent. Done. Her aura was completely exhausted and her body was shutting down. She didn't have enough blood left to operate. She wasn't going to find Ruby. She was never going to find Ruby. She was going to die.

Weiss blinked and a hazy cloud formed over her eyes. A smile played at her lips. At least she had killed the nevermore. She blinked again and the haze threatened to obscure all vision of light. She was going to have to tell Ruby about that when she got back to Beacon…

Darkness took over Weiss vision as her lids shut for a blink, but didn't open. It wasn't as cold as Weiss had expected. In fact, it didn't feel like anything Weiss had ever known. It felt like a soft blanket was being pressed onto her mind. Then the blanket proceeded to cover the entirety of her body, so that she was wrapped and covered fully. The blanket wasn't suffocating or uncomfortable in any way, but something didn't feel right about it. Like the blanket was searching for something but couldn't quite find it among Weiss's belongings.

After a minute of searching, the blanket retracted from Weiss's being and something else pressed onto her. This thing was cold and slick. She wasn't quite sure she could call it snake-like because snake's felt better than this. The oily substance engulfed her body and a whisper came to her ear.

_So you have fallen Ms. Schnee._ The voice wasn't quite human. It seemed like it was trying its best to act like a human voice, but was missing the key points of spoken language. Every word ended sharply and suddenly. Every syllable was pronounced and emphasized perfectly. It was as if it had learned the human language perfectly, and the imperfections of spoken language were where the problem lay.

Weiss tried to use her mouth to respond but found that it didn't work. Instead, she had to use her mind to communicate. "Yes. I am dead." It didn't hurt as much to say that as she had expected. It hadn't hurt at all, actually. It had been more like stating a scientific fact. No arguing. No bias. Just fact.

_Ah, but are you Ms. Schnee?_ Weiss felt the oil slipping over the leg that had been crushed under the tree. _A minor wound if you ask me. Nothing a few bandages and a good doctor can't fix_. The darkness seemed to hum with the echo of a laugh. _Do you wish to be dead Ms. Schnee?_

In the dark, Weiss couldn't be sure the voice could see her annoyed look but she still gave one. "Of course not. I want to be alive." Again, just like scientific facts. What she was saying was the absolute truth. Maybe nobody could tell a lie after they died.

_Do you want to see Ruby again?_ The voice oozed. It was close to her ear now instead of being body less. Weiss tried to turn her head, but found that she couldn't.

"Yes."

_Would you do anything to see Ruby again?_

"Yes." Weiss was a bit surprised at her own answer but stood by it. She was sure if she thought about it, then she would find that it was the truth. Ruby was her friend and teammate and leader. Ruby was her best friend. Of course she would do anything to see her again. What a stupid question.

Suddenly the darkness changed and four glowing red orbs appeared before Weiss. They gave off an evil and terrifying energy and Weiss wanted to scurry away from them. To hide for a thousand years while these red orbs remained hovering there over her presence.

_Then please, accept these gifts._ The voice cooed. _Reach out and grab them. They will bring you back to Ruby._

Weiss felt her hands reaching out to the orbs but held back. "What are they?"

_They are a new way of living. You no longer have a soul; it was destroyed when you used that last glyph. These orbs will help you to reach Ruby again. Don't you want that?_ The voiced oozed.

Weiss felt her head nod. "Yes. I do want that. But, how can I be alive without a soul?" Everything had to have a soul to be alive. People. Birds. Dogs. Cats. Everything. Everything except-

The brilliance of the orbs began to fade and Weiss's thoughts were interrupted. _I see that you do not wish exist again. I'm apologize for interrupting your eternal slumber_. The voice pulled away from Weiss and she felt the oil coming off of her skin.

She panicked. "No wait!" She reached out and her fingertip brushed the edge of one of the orbs.

The red energy shot up Weiss's arms and engulfed it. Pain sprouted from her entire being. Every cell cried out that it was being destroyed simultaneously. Everything that existed was pain. Even her thoughts were painful, causing her mind to bleed and become infected with the red energy.

The darkness hummed with a laugh from the oily voice. _Pleasure doing business with you._ Weiss would have made a sharp retort back but couldn't. She couldn't breathe and her entire body had become full ensnared with the red energy. Her mind shut down. It couldn't process so much pain at once. It was too much. But the voice came again.

_Who's idea was it to leave Beacon?_

"Ruby Rose."

_Who wouldn't get help when you most needed it?_

"Ruby Rose."

_Who watched you be carried away by the nevermore?_

"Ruby Rose."

_Who didn't save you?"_

"Ruby Rose."

_Who does the fault fall to?_

Weiss screamed and the red energy flew off of her body. "RUBY ROSE!" The darkness around her seemed to shake with the force of the shout. The black hummed with another laugh.

_Then go get her._

Weiss screamed again and the entirety of the darkness quivered. Then it broke. But instead of disappearing, it flew inwards, towards Weiss's body. It clung to her like tar and she welcomed it. It felt good. It felt like power. It felt like _revenge_.

By the time that all of the darkness had attached to her body; Weiss had stood up from her resting place. Her leg had been healed and she felt _so_ good. She had _never_ felt this good before. She had so much power. She felt it coursing through her veins and infecting her entire being. She looked at the stick she once called a weapon and kicked it aside. Useless. Her claws could do more damage than that _toothpick_ ever could.

What-was-once-Weiss heard a screech and she turned around. Standing not two feet from her, staring at her, was a small nevermore. No more than a year old. Cooing, the turned Weiss reached down and offered her finger to the little beast. It hoped up contently and stared at its new mother, red eyes meeting red eyes.

What-was-once-Weiss turned to the edge of the nest and unfolded her wings to full length, the black feathers reaching almost eight feet in either direction. "We have hunting to do, little one."

* * *

Ruby dropped to her knees and put her head into her hands. She had failed as a leader. Blake had run off. Weiss had been carried away. And Yang had turned into a Grimm. While all of these things were temporary problems, it was Ruby's responsibility to keep things like this from happening. It was her job to make sure that nobody got hurt or felt bad or ran away or anything. And she had failed. She had failed, miserably.

Ruby was exhausted. She had been wandering the woods searching for anyone of her teammates all day and had found none of them. While she had tried to follow the nevermore, it had flown above the clouds and Ruby had quickly lost its trail afterwards. Ruby could only hope that Weiss was okay and had somehow managed to kill the nevermore.

Thinking of Weiss only brought a deep feeling of guilt to the young girl. Weiss had been right. They should have retreated when they had the chance. Now, Ruby was deep in the woods with no reinforcements on the way. She had managed to patch up her cheek, but Ruby was confident that it was infected at this point. If she didn't get medical help within the next twenty four hours, that infection was going to kill her.

Ruby lifted her head out of her hands. She couldn't give up. Her teammates needed her. And as long as they needed her, she had to be there for them. As if the entire world was on her shoulders, Ruby stood.

Then, a screech. A piercing, evil screech. Ruby groaned and took cover behind a tree. She couldn't kill a nevermore unless it was a small one. Peeking out from her cover, Ruby looked to the sky and noticed a black shape circling the area above her. While Ruby didn't think of herself as blessed at that moment, she sure felt good. It was a small nevermore. The smallest one Ruby had ever seen actually. It was surprising that it would dare to fly out in open air like that, but Ruby didn't question it. Keeping Crescent Rose in its gun form, Ruby took aim and fired off a round.

Almost immediately, the nevermore dodged and turned to dive towards the direction that the bullet had come from. Towards Ruby. The young girl gasped and quickly hid behind the tree. It was a small nevermore, but she had never seen one so _fast_. It had reacted instantly to the sniper fire. Almost like it was expecting her…

The ground thudded heavily as the nevermore landed. Dust kicked up and in the flurry Ruby was able to sneak a peek around the cover of her tree to catch sight of the nevermore.

But it wasn't a nevermore.

It was _Weiss._

The black wings and skull mask might have deceived her when Weiss was flying so high in the air, but up close, Ruby could tell that it was her partner. The bloodstained and tattered dress that had been painted black by the dirt of the forest. The silky white hair that hung just past her shoulders. The boots that were caked in blood. They were all distinctive features of Weiss. But how…?

Ruby stepped out from her cover and put away Crescent Rose. "Weiss…?" The turned-girl whipped her head to look at the younger one. The four red orbs of the Grimm mask connected with Ruby's silver eyes. "I'm just going to need to help you out with that. Okay Weiss?" Ruby took careful steps towards her friend. Gentle steps.

What-was-once-Weiss screeched violently at Ruby and the younger girl stopped moving, not wanting to anger her friend. The beak of the Grimm mask clicked several times in annoyance and the red tongue flicked in and out of the mask. Annoyed Turned-Weiss grabbed at the mask and pulled at it. Taking this as a signal of her friend's distress, Ruby continued to take steps towards the Grimm.

Noticing Ruby moving closer, the Grimm hissed loudly at her. Ruby froze again. Again, what-was-once-Weiss worked at her mask and fiddled with it. After a sharp _crack!_ the hands dropped and the red eyes turned up to Ruby's again. But this time, Ruby saw something different. She saw hate. She saw malice. She saw _murder_.

_"HOW COULD YOU LEAVE ME!"_ The Grimm screeched. The voice was so piercing, so evil, that Ruby jumped back and slammed her hands over her ears. The voice had been a weapon. It had physically hurt Ruby. After the ringing left her ears, Ruby pulled her hands away and saw them covered in blood. The younger girl looked up at Weiss and gasped.

She was right there.

The Grimm brought her talon down and across Ruby's face. The talons burned as they dragged along her face and Ruby had to struggle to keep her mouth closed while the claws raked over it. But Ruby had to act fast. Using what she knew about keeping momentum, Ruby went with the strike and used the diagonal motion to roll away from Weiss.

But she stumbled getting up and soon, what-was-once-Weiss was on her again. This time, the Grimm used its beak. It peppered Ruby with jab after jab of the needle like appendage. Blow after blow came down on Ruby, some very deep and concerning and the others only minimal in damage. The Grimm wasn't trying to kill her. It was trying to leave her with just enough life.

After a minute of the jabbing beak, it subsided and what-was-once-Weiss stepped away. Ruby unfolded from the fetal position that she had taken and stood up. She was bleeding and battered but not out yet. She smiled at her friend. "Come one Weiss. You gotta do better than that."

The Grimm didn't seem to understand and instead screeched into the air. A second later, a miniature nevermore flew down and perched on the edge of her finger. A series of clicks and clacks and screeches later, the pair turned on Ruby. Only to find that she had moved and only a rosy scatter of petals remained.

Annoyed at her own incompetence in setting up the hunt for her child, what-was-once-Weiss screeched and pointed towards the woods. The smaller nevermore flitted off in the direction of her finger and disappeared a second afterwards.

* * *

Ruby had run. What else could she have done? She wasn't going to fight Weiss, her teammate and partner. It didn't matter how bad things looked, she had to try and save Weiss. She had to. It was her responsibility as a leader to do so. As a _friend. _She had to help Weiss. Somehow. She just needed a plan.

Ruby dodged behind a tree and then proceeded to run the opposite direction. She had never been good at hiding her tracks, so she figured that if she could confuse Weiss with her tracks, then she might gain an extra minute or two. It was better than nothing after all.

A small screech sounded and Ruby looked up. Weiss's pet nevermore was flying above her and making a racket. With a smile and a roll of her eyes, Ruby pulled out Crescent Rose and shot the little guy. While he was cute, it wouldn't help to have him around while Ruby was trying to deal with Weiss.

A scream of pure pain and agony came from above Ruby. Looking up again, Ruby saw her friend dive-bombing toward her, vengeance in her eyes. Panicking, Ruby used her semblance to dodge at the last second, making it to a nearby tree branch.

"Look, Weiss, I'm sorry. I didn't think that you would see that and I didn't know you cared about him and I'm sorry Weiss I'm just trying to help you and it would be hard to do that with your friend and I don't know and Weiss I'm sorry."

A scream of fury was her only response as what-was-once-Weiss flapped its black wings and launched itself towards Ruby. On instinct, Ruby dropped from the branch and rolled away from the tree. Time slowed as she saw her once friend slam into the tree and claw at the bark, leaving gashes deep enough to be considered canyons.

Weiss had done that.

Weiss had tried to do that to her.

Ruby hit the ground and rolled. A scream on annoyed fury came at her and the Grimm dropped to the ground, eyeing Ruby with seething hatred. The younger girl was confident that she could outpace the other. She had always been faster than Weiss. But she only had so many bullets to use for dodges and now that Weiss had wings, it was unclear what her stamina levels were like.

Ruby bit her lip. She couldn't run. That would just be wasting energy. She had to try and get to Weiss now. "Weiss. I'm going to help you. Don't worry." Ruby shot towards Weiss with her hands outstretched. Several rose petals came down as Ruby's hands wrapped around the beak of Weiss's mask.

Using every ounce of concentration that she could muster, Ruby tried to funnel her aura into her hands. They began to glow and Weiss stopped resisting. Soon, the red-ish glow of Ruby's aura had enveloped the entire mask that covered Weiss's face. The energy hummed and the air crackled with the energy that was being used. Ruby was sure she could smell roses but she stayed focused on Weiss. On freeing Weiss. On helping Weiss.

A crack appeared on the Grimm mask and Ruby smiled giddily. Without Weiss struggling, her plan was most certainly going to work. "It's okay Weiss. It'll be okay." Ruby soothed. The mask cracked more. And more. And more.

Soon the mask was little more than a bunch of splinters being held together with little more than the last dredges of Grimm energy. Ruby sighed in exhaustion as her aura started to fade from her hands. The glowing of her hands ceased almost entirely and Ruby tilted the eye sockets of the mask to her silver eyes. The burning red of hatred was gone. There wasn't anything left except an empty hole. She had done it. She had saved Weiss.

"Here we go Weiss. Easy does it." Ruby lowered her hand and placed it at the base of the Grimm mask, lifting. But the mask didn't move. It stayed. Steady and constant. Ruby tried again, but nothing happened for a second time. "Hey, Weiss, I could use some help-"

Black energy exploded from the cracks in what-was-once-Weiss's mask, fusing it back together. The eyes reignited and began to burn more furiously than ever. Ruby felt a hand around her throat and her body begin to lift off the ground. The Grimm hurled the younger girl with unbelievable strength into a tree.

Ruby felt the tree crack and her own shoulder pop violently as she struck the tree. She raised her head and saw her friend bearing down on her. But she had saved her! Ruby had saved Weiss. Her mask was cracked her eyes were out! Ruby took a sharp breathe and rolled out of the way of a talon the Weiss brought down towards her. Without thinking, Ruby unfolded Crescent Rose and slammed a blunt edge into Weiss's back, forcing her into the tree. The impact forced the beak of the Grimm mask to impale in the tree.

Ruby acted on the notion and moved to the other side of the tree, taking advantage of Weiss's temporary state of paralysis. Hoping the tree wasn't too thick, Ruby swung the blade of Crescent Rose around the tree trunk and pressed it against Weiss's back. Ruby on one side. Weiss on the other. Tree in the middle.

The Grimm froze upon feeling the blade of the scythe on her back. Ruby took the opportunity to speak. "Weiss. I need to save you. We can do this. You just have to help me out a little bit. Okay?"

The Grimm didn't respond and stayed motionless. Ruby slid up her scythe and reached out with one of her hands again. "Okay Weiss… Let's try this again. It'll work this time. I promise."

Seizing the opportunity, what-was-once-Weiss bucked wildly and ripped her beak loose of the tree. Without thought, Ruby pulled the trigger on Crescent Rose as Weiss tried to duck under the blade of the scythe.

The bang of a gun echoing in the forest.

The slice of a blade sliding through flesh.

The crunch of the scythe biting into the wood.

The thump of something hitting the ground.

The gasp of a girl who hadn't meant to do what she had just done.

Ruby looked down at the body of her closest friend. It didn't look any different. The dress was still in tatters and it was still stained with a bunch of dirt and blood. The boots were still smeared with blood. The body was still as angular and graceful as Ruby remembered it to be. Nothing wrong at all.

"Weiss." Ruby whispered. She knew she wasn't going to get a response. "I… Weiss. I…um…." Ruby moved out from behind her tree and past the dead girl's body. Instead, she walked towards a small, white lump with an increasingly large pool of red growing around it.

Ruby Rose picked up her fallen comrade's head and turned it so that the mouth was facing Ruby's. She stared at the Grimm mask and the hollow eyes that now stared back at her. "Weiss…uh…" Ruby felt the tears coming but she tried to stop them from flowing. But no dam could be so strong as the tears started flowing down her face, dripping off of her cheek and falling on the mask of her friend.

She pulled the head closer to her body and hugged it tightly against her chest, not caring about the blood that was staining her clothes. And she cried. She cried and sobbed and wailed for longer than she could remember. And the forest let her. No Grimm came. Not a single one. No animals or leaves or sunlight disrupted the mourning girl. The forest wouldn't dare to challenge Ruby Rose and interrupt her mourning. No one dared to do such a thing.

Ruby felt hollow. Like her entire being had drained out of her body the instant she had pulled the trigger. She had killed Weiss. She had _killed _Weiss. It was by her hand that Weiss was dead. Directly. Ruby sobbed violently and clutched the head closer to her chest. "I'm am… sorry Weiss!" Ruby wailed to the heavens. "I didn't mean to… it just happened!" Ruby felt her tears stop flowing. She had run out of liquid to spare in her body.

And so, more time came to pass. The forest continued not to intrude on the girl, whispering her apologizes to the fallen teammate, but the sun could not be convinced. Soon, the light began to fade from the sky and the forest gave way to the dusk. Unfortunately, the dusk was not as lenient as the forest and Ruby started to hear the sound of moving predators in the woods.

She had to move. Ruby thought about something, anything that she could use to carry Weiss's body with her. She couldn't carry the body back on her own, she would never make it. But she didn't have anything like a sled or an airship or anything. "Oh, Weiss, I don't know what to do. How can I help you Weiss? Oh, what would you do Weiss?"  
_I would leave my body and get to safety. _Ruby sighed heavily. She knew that Weiss would say something like that.

"But Weiss, I have to bring you back. I can't let you die out here!" Ruby realized how she had misspoken but decided not to correct it. She stood up and moved towards the body of her friend.

_I already am dead you dunce._ Weiss scolded her. _I can't get much deader than that. And if you're talking about animals eating my body than I don't really care. I don't have much use for it now anyway._ Ruby rolled her eyes at her comrade's words. That was just like Weiss, leaving behind something she didn't need. She was always so conscious about that kind of stuff.

"Weiss. I can't let that happen. We have to bury you and your body and I…" Ruby threatened to break down again but somehow managed to regain her composure. "I won't leave you again, Weiss."

_That's all very sweet and sentimental, but it will get you killed._ Just like Weiss, always looking out for Ruby, even when she was mean about it. _Besides, do you really think I want to be seen like this?_ Ruby could see Weiss motioning to her body and mask. _As if. Leave my body and get to safety._

Ruby noticed the sounds of the forest growing steadily quieter. "Weiss. I…"

_Stop._ Ruby imagined Weiss holding a hand up to silence the girl. _You were my teammate. You were my leader. You were my best friend. And now it's time for us to part ways. Two miles south of here there is a wooden hut you can stay in. Professor Port's old hunting cabin. If you paid attention to his stories, you would have known that. It should have supplies for you to deal with that atrocious cut on your face and other various injuries._

Ruby looked at the head of her friend one last time before placing it gently against a tree. "Weiss. You were my best friend too. I'll miss you."

Ruby imagined Weiss rolling her eyes in annoyance. _I'll always be with you Ruby. As long as you keep thinking about me. Now, go!_

Ruby hesitated for only a second before disappearing in a cloud of rose petals. She had never been good at goodbyes. Somehow more tears started to fall down her cheeks. Even a pretend goodbye, was better than no goodbye.

* * *

_A/N: Nobody said the reverse process had to be successful all the time. Haha, fake happy endings are the best. Also, the picture that inspired my that xenon drew was the one of Ruby holding Weiss head. Whoops. This is a one-shot so you know the deal. Drop a review or favorite if you liked it. Thanks for reading._


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